Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having casual sexual relations frequently with different partners; indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners.
- adjective Lacking standards of selection; acting without careful judgment; indiscriminate.
- adjective Showing little forethought or critical judgment; casual.
- adjective Consisting of diverse, unrelated parts or individuals; confused.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Consisting of parts or individuals grouped together without order; mingled indiscriminately; confused.
- Forming part of a mingled or confused crowd or mass.
- Distributed or applied without order or discrimination; common; indiscriminate; not restricted to one individual: as, promiscuous sexual intercourse.
- Casual; accidental.
- Synonyms Promiscuous, Miscellaneous. Promiscuous emphasizes the complete lack of arrangement; miscellaneous the throwing together of different kinds. Hence we speak of promiscuous, but not of miscellaneous, confusion; of miscellaneous, not promiscuous, articles in a magazine. A work-bag contains a miscellaneous collection of things, which should never be allowed to become promiscuous.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Consisting of individuals united in a body or mass without order; mingled; confused; undistinguished.
- adjective Distributed or applied without order or discrimination; not restricted to an individual; common; indiscriminate.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Made up of various disparate elements mixed together; of disorderly composition.
- adjective Made without
careful choice ;indiscriminate . - adjective Indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners.
- adjective networking The mode in which a NIC gathers all network traffic instead of getting only the traffic intended for it.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior
- adjective not selective of a single class or person
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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WILLENBRING: That's what we call a promiscuous molecule, because it's very small and it goes all over the brain and it affects multiple nerve systems.
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The meme that "gays are incredibly promiscuous" is a favorite of religious right spokespeople.
Alvin McEwen: Glenn Beck's 'historian' uses bad information to denigrate gay community Alvin McEwen 2010
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The idea that because liberals are in favor of sexual liberty they must therefore believe that anyone even ought to be promiscuous is ridiculous.
The Volokh Conspiracy » “Do ‘Family Values’ Weaken Families?” 2010
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The idea that because liberals are in favor of sexual liberty they must therefore believe that anyone even ought to be promiscuous is ridiculous.
The Volokh Conspiracy » “Do ‘Family Values’ Weaken Families?” 2010
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Encourage a culture of guilt tripping those who smoke, eat too much, engage in promiscuous sex, and other self destructive behaviors.
Quack Remedy, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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But I am continually struck by the perplexing question of why perception persists that primarily gay and bisexual men are termed 'promiscuous.'
Abby L. Ferber: Schwarzenegger, DSK and Heterosexual Privilege Abby L. Ferber 2011
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I ask this because just as reiterating that being promiscuous is unhealthy is unnecessary to the conversation about someone stalking another for being promiscuous, it is unnecessary to reiterate that being fat is unhealthy when talking about someone stalking another on television.
I want you to stop stalking "overweight" women. - Feministing 2009
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The meme that "gays are incredibly promiscuous" is a favorite of religious right spokespeople.
Alvin McEwen: Glenn Beck's 'historian' uses bad information to denigrate gay community Alvin McEwen 2010
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But I am continually struck by the perplexing question of why perception persists that primarily gay and bisexual men are termed 'promiscuous.'
Abby L. Ferber: Schwarzenegger, DSK and Heterosexual Privilege Abby L. Ferber 2011
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The meme that "gays are incredibly promiscuous" is a favorite of religious right spokespeople.
Alvin McEwen: Glenn Beck's 'Historian' Uses Bad Information to Denigrate Gay Community Alvin McEwen 2010
oroboros commented on the word promiscuous
PromIscOUS
May 8, 2008